11 June 2026
From the bench: a two-tone oval solitaire
A 1.21-carat oval in a two-tone setting — rose gold band, white gold basket, a hidden row of pavé beneath the stone. From the shellac stick to the certificate, this is what the bench looks like.
Last week a commission left the bench: a 1.21-carat oval, F colour, carried on a rose gold band with a white gold basket — and a hidden row of pavé tucked beneath the centre stone, a detail only the wearer ever sees.
The work
The ring is mounted on a shellac stick so the metal can be worked without a single slip. The claws are drawn over the oval with a graver, under the loupe, a few microns at a time. There is no casting house and no setting bench down the road — the same pair of hands carries the piece from sketch to sign-off.
Built to the brief, not to a formula
This commission was specified in 14k, two-tone, with an SI2 stone — chosen with eyes open. The inclusions sit low, where the basket holds them; on the hand the oval reads clean and white. That is what transparent advice looks like in practice: the budget goes where the eye can see it, and nowhere else.
The paper that travels with it
Every commission leaves with its independent laboratory report. This one reads: oval, 1.21 carats, F colour — issued in Istanbul, and signed the only way we sign anything.
